Pregnancy Podiatry

Feet you can no longer reach. Nails that need cutting and a bump in the way. Arches that ache by mid-afternoon, shoes that fit last month and don’t now, and ankles that have quietly disappeared.

This page is about the appointment. What’s actually happening to your feet during pregnancy — the hormone that loosens the ligaments, why the arch drops, what the swelling is — is set out on foot pain during pregnancy. Start there if you want the explanation; start here if you want to know what a visit involves.

What people book for

Nail and skin care you can’t do yourself. By the third trimester most people can’t comfortably reach their toes, and there’s no need to have a problem to justify an appointment. Nails trimmed, hard skin reduced, anything that’s started to dig in dealt with before it becomes painful.

Aching arches and heels. Extra weight, a change in how you stand, and ligaments that are more relaxed than usual all load the foot differently. That often shows up as plantar fasciitis or general arch fatigue.

Footwear that no longer fits. Feet commonly go up a width, sometimes a full size, and some of that doesn’t reverse afterwards. Working out what to buy now, rather than persevering with shoes that have stopped fitting, is usually the single most useful part of the appointment.

Swelling. Management of the ordinary kind, and — just as importantly — knowing which swelling isn’t ordinary.

Ingrown nails, which get harder to manage yourself at exactly the point they’re most likely to appear. See ingrown toenail treatment.

What the appointment is like

Tell reception you’re pregnant when you book, and roughly how far along.

You won’t be asked to lie flat if you don’t want to. Lying on your back gets uncomfortable for most people from the middle of pregnancy onward, and is generally advised against after around 20 weeks. The couch can be reclined or set up on your side, and you can change position whenever you need to — say so rather than putting up with it.

Your podiatrist will go through your history, look at how you’re loading the foot, and check circulation and sensation where they’re relevant. Where treatment is appropriate it usually starts at that visit.

Where something isn’t appropriate during pregnancy, she’ll tell you that directly and say what the alternative is, rather than doing it anyway.

⚠ The swelling that is not a podiatry problem

Mild swelling that builds through the day and settles overnight is common and usually unremarkable.

Contact your GP, midwife or maternity unit the same day if swelling:

• comes on suddenly, or is severe
• affects one leg noticeably more than the other, particularly with calf pain, warmth or redness
• arrives alongside headache, vision changes, or pain under the ribs

Those patterns can point to pre-eclampsia or a clot, and both need medical assessment rather than a podiatry appointment. Your podiatrist will refer you on if she sees them, but do not wait for an appointment to raise it.

After the baby arrives

Feet often don’t go back to exactly what they were. The arch may sit lower and the shoe size may stay up, and carrying a growing child reintroduces load on a foot that has already changed.

If something that started in pregnancy hasn’t settled a few months on, that’s worth an assessment rather than an assumption that it will.